A woman of many careers and talents has been added to the new Daniel Pearl Magnet family. The new magnet coordinator is Laverne Potter, succeeding Marixa Pleitez.
Before coming to Daniel Pearl Magnet High School (DPMHS), Potter worked at Cleveland High School (CHS) for six and a half years, serving in the educational field for 17 years. At CHS, Potter was the LAUSD coordinator, test coordinator, grant coordinator and mentor teacher.
Potter has taught kindergarten through college, in various subjects including English and math.
Potter attended Florida State University (FSU) and Cal State University Northridge (CSUN). She received her masters degrees in Administration and Counseling/Guidance both at CSUN and California Lutheran University (CLU).
Potter as an undergraduate, majored in fashion design and merchandising while studying French. In addition, Potter had a minor in military science.
“I’ve always wanted to study fashion in France, so I studied French. But I never actually made it to France,” says Potter.
Potter has a fulfilled and interesting personal background, moving around from place to place since her father was in the Navy. The former “Navy Brat” eventually served as an officer in the Army, where she met her husband of 32 years.
Potter and her husband have two children, a 28-old son and a 24-year-old daughter.
“My weekend passion is going on my 32-foot trawler boat around Marina Del Rey,” Potter said.
Along with going on her boat during her free time, Potter also shows her love for animals by training horses. However, she also enjoys reading, a calmer hobby among her other adventurous activities.
“Some of my favorite genres are historical fiction, World War II books, spy/mystery novels and pre-renaissance books,” Potter said.
Potter is of Native American, Spanish, Dutch, German and Irish descent.
One of her primary goals at DPMHS is to recruit more students to our culturally diverse school and boost enrollment up to at least 600 students.
“If we can get more students in this school, we can still have a small community within our school and we can expand our classes and elective choices,” Potter explained. “Since being at Daniel Pearl, I love the school and everyone from students to staff. I like the small community feel. It’s like home.”